Untethered
by Zoe-eoZ
Summary: When Sheila Bennett realizes she once made a horrible mistake, resulting in her granddaughter's heart getting broken, in Enzo dying, she sets out to fix it, making it... worse? As Bonnie becomes untethered from time, will she be able to get back to her own? And will she be able to save Enzo with Sheila's help?
1. Spell or curse?

_This is for all you fellow Bonenzo lovers, and for Jade, for giving my writing a chance even when the Bonenzo inspiration left me._

 _I'm still struggling. I don't know why it is so hard to come up with a good story idea to write for this couple. Maybe because their end was so upsetting. Even a rewatch of their scenes didn't help all that much._

 _So, if anyone has any prompts, or ideas, or wishes on what they'd like to read, and if you feel like sharing, please let me know._

 _But on with this little story. Because we still need more Bonenzo! I just don't know whether I'll be able to come up with an end for this, unfortunately._

* * *

...

* * *

 **Untethered**

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...

* * *

...

And you're sure about this?"

The girl squinted cautiously at the old woman sitting in front of her, watching as she nodded. The room they sat in was dark and musty, reminiscing of days long gone. Blankets, dreamcatchers, a small fireplace circled by rocks, the flames licking away inside almost the only source of light.

"See for yourself." The woman reached out to touch her fingers against Sheila's temples, sonorously chanting under her breath, and suddenly, the room began to whirl and blur.

Sheila Bennett wanted to run. But of course she didn't. She was a witch, and this old woman was a respected shaman who had a few tricks up her sleeve that Sheila was desperate to learn about. The only thing she hadn't anticipated, however, was that this woman claimed to have seen not one, but two vampires in her bloodline.

In the future.

Vampires. Abominations, a sacrilege against the natural order. Tainting the Bennett name? It sounded impossible, yet the shaman had been adamant. Had claimed to have seen it all with her own eyes.

Had claimed she could show Sheila, too.

Then she saw it.

Her daughter. She would have a daughter… Abby. But Abby would become a vampire. No. No no no no no.

And then… a grandchild. Bonnie. Sheila felt her heart well over with a love she shouldn't even feel yet, a love for someone that wouldn't be born for a couple more decades.

She felt proud, too. This girl was beautiful, smart, and a powerful witch.

Who met a vampire. Who fell in love with him. With a vampire. A vampire… Who wanted to be human together.

The cure… Last minute qualms. A sleeping friend, enchanted. And what if something happened and Bonnie died just a year or two down the road. What if she doomed Enzo to give up his life to give the cure over to her best friend (another vampire!)? She couldn't let that happen. She couldn't let him die…

Sheila whirled forward in time, spiraling deeper into the future, feeling like she needed to hold onto something to not get lost. Then there was Bonnie again, Bonnie looking up at her beau (a vampire, an abomination with the most handsome features…), Bonnie nodding, smiling, whispering, "It's okay…"

His wrist coming up to her mouth, his finger wiping over her blood stained lips, his teeth sinking into her neck.

Bonnie dying, in his arms.

Bonnie coming to, transforming. Adjusting. Learning.

A creature of darkness. An abomination with the most beautiful face.

Sheila whirled and whirled, feeling nauseous and sick. She was trying to tell the shaman to stop, that she had seen it all, that she believed it. That she had seen enough. Enough enough.

Enough!

There was Bonnie, wiping blood off her mouth with her arm, grinning with red stained teeth. And there was her pale companion, grinning just like her, before he wrapped her in his arms, whirling her around, a sea of dead people at their feet.

So many.

What had happened? She needed to know. She needed to understand. Her granddaughter, she was a monster.

She would become a monster.

If Sheila didn't stop this from happening.

A sudden zap brought her back to where she had started her journey, the dark mustiness of the shaman's room. The woman grinned at her, showing a bunch of missing teeth, and Sheila almost gagged as she remember the blood stained grin of her grandchild to be.

"No," she breathed, "no…"

"We could try and change this, still." The shaman gave her an ominous look, and Sheila knew she needed to be careful now, needed to wait and see.

"What do you mean."

"This future? It doesn't have to happen this way." The old woman grinned again, patting Sheila's hand, making her feel the urge to pull away, but she fought it.

Slowly, she shook her head. "I don't believe in that kind of magic. Even if it was possible, it would be against the natural order of things. It would be a mess. It—"

"But she will become something that is against the natural order of things if you don't stop this. Don't you think saving her will be worth it? What worse fate could there be for a witch than to turn into the thing she hates the most?"

"I… I can't do this," Sheila stuttered, confused that she took this so seriously, that she didn't just laugh it off, her up and leave. But something about this woman made her pause, made her wait.

"I can do it for you. All I'll need is your cooperation. And a bit of your… blood."

Blood magic. Sheila's eyes widened. She should run, oh gosh she should run.

Instead she stayed.

And what she had seen in her vision, her travel through time, never happened that way.

Because on a beautiful day, long after her death, things took a completely different turn, and her beautiful granddaughter was suddenly, unexpectedly bereft of the love of her life.

…

That scream would forever stay with Sheila. It had brought her right back from wherever she had gone, wherever she had found peace. In a way that was good, because just a little later Bonnie needed her to save Mystic Falls, save the world, and Sheila was there right by her side, assisting her, keeping the fires of hell contained.

But she couldn't stave the pain that seemed to swallow Bonnie whole whenever no one was watching.

"I did this," she said, tears trailing down her face, tears that he wiped away. He… the handsome stranger, the abomination.

Enzo.

"You love her. You wanted to protect her." He understood her, forgave her. But she was angry at herself. So very angry. And why was this vampire - this man - so kind to her. He was a psychotic monster. (Had been. Had been… could something like that really change?)

His existence was against nature. And yet.

"I would take it back if I could."

He shook his head. "You can't mess with fate."

"It didn't used to be her fate. I changed it. She's so unhappy now."

"She's strong," he told her, sounding like he was trying to convince himself more than her. He took her hand and she let him. She let this vampire hold her hand and try to console her. "Look at her, she's starting to live again. Traveling…"

Sheila shook her head. It was so obvious to her what Bonnie was doing. She was trying to escape her feelings more than the town she had grown up in, and the minute she'd return, so would all her heartache. Bonnie wasn't coping, she was shoving her feelings away, abandoning her friends, looking for a challenge instead of an adventure. "She's broken," she conceded. "And I broke her. I. I need to fix this."

Determination flooded her. She was a witch! She could do something about this, couldn't she?

She had done it once. Something that went completely against the natural order…

Revert time. Give Bonnie another chance at happiness.

Enzo shot her a suspicious look. Gripping his hand hard before he could pull away, she gazed into his hazel-brown eyes, seeing a world inside of them. Seeing Bonnie.

"I'll fix this," she promised him, then, letting go, she spread her arms, summoning the powers of the spirit world, before he had a chance to stop her. Bonnie had accidentally created this psychic plane of existence her loved ones resided in, Bonnie, a Bennett witch, and that meant, Sheila could also use that power. For another spell.

"Sheila, don't. You have no idea what this will mean for her—" Enzo's words got cut off by a loud roaring, a deafening wind.

Closing her eyes, Sheila began chanting louder, remembering the shaman's lessons.

Then the world began to whirl once more…

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...

* * *

...

With a strange whooshing sensation, Bonnie Bennett found herself getting spiraled down what she believed to be a path to sleep.

It was no wonder that it felt strange and different. After all, she was on a plane to Africa, with nothing but a small suitcase full of the most essential stuff, the great unknown ahead of her, Mystic Falls behind.

In her last wakeful moment, in that strange land of drifting off, she thought back on what she was really leaving behind. Her friends, her home, but also her pain. No, Mystic Falls had not been good to her. And she had not been good in Mystic Falls. Not always, anyways. She had made some awful decisions to protect her friends, she had fallen in love with a vampire. Had had her heart torn out alongside him, if not as literal.

And then she saw him. With a smile on his face. So alive. And she smiled back at this unreal version of him, running toward him, feeling as light and happy as she had lately only felt in her dreams.

"Enzo!"

She wrapped her arms around him, letting go only to look at his face, touch his cheek. Feel him.

It was then that she noticed it. There was something different about him. He looked… younger.

Puzzled, she let go of him, taking a step back, noticing him stare at her with strange amusement.

"As much as I enjoyed this," he said with a smirk and a frown, "I have to ask one silly question: do we know each other?"

Her brow furrowed, her breath hitched. This was a bit of a strange dream, wasn't it? Out of some clichéd impulse, she pinched her arm, remembering that she was sleeping. Probably a lucid dream, a very peculiar one.

"Are you pulling my leg, mister? Because I'm not that stupid," she informed him, sassily throwing her head back a little, rising onto her tiptoes.

His expression would have been extremely adorable if it didn't mean that he honestly had no idea who she was.

"Come on," she cajoled her subconscious, "what kind of shitty dream is this when my dead boyfriend doesn't at least know who I am?"

"I beg your pardon?" He swallowed, clearly confused, and she had to stifle the urge to laugh hysterically.

Grabbing his arms, she raised herself up enough to be able to look him in the eyes, and while he flinched a little under her touch (he flinched?!), he didn't shrug her off. "Okay, this weird dream is annoying me because you're supposed to know me and have mind blowing sex with me and then cuddle with me on the couch forever, watching stupid movies and reminiscing about the things we won't be able to do together because you freaking died too soon, but hey, if my stupid brain got fried by the excitement over embarking on this journey to see the world, then I'll make do with a kiss and the fact that you look incredibly adorable when you have no idea who I am and miraculously look like, ten years younger than you did at the time of your first death."

"My first death." His amusement was evident. Like he didn't take her seriously one bit.

"Uh huh. This version of you probably also has no idea, but you'll become a vampire at some point down the road." She nodded at him, not even half upset when this revelation did make him shake her off like she was some sort of lunatic.

"Right…" Enzo seemed to contemplate what to make of her. "Anyways. It's been a pleasure, but I'm due to start working in a couple of minutes, and frankly, my boss wouldn't understand if I told him I got held up by a gorgeous girl with questionable storytelling talents that also somehow knew my name."

She scoffed, catching herself quickly. At least he hadn't tried to send her to the loony bin. Pinching herself again, she rolled her eyes, looking up at the sky. "Can we please try this again?" She asked no one in particular, making him frown at her one last time before he tapped his cap with a half bow, then walked past her without a look back.

"I'll leave you to it, gorgeous."

"Great." Now dream-Enzo left her standing in the middle of the street looking dumb and stood up. And for some reason she didn't even run after him, remained rooted to the spot.

Where was she, anyways? Checking her surroundings for the first time, she realized she was at a port, large and small ships docking not far from her, a filter of sepia tingeing her dream in a light of days long gone.

Wait. No… Frowning, she took a closer look. Smoke was wafting from the ships and big chimneys in the distance. The people bustling about all looked like they were straight out of the past, women in long fancy dresses. Men in suits and hats, a walking stick here and there, suitcases that looked last century, and the ships, too, were not exactly the Queen Mary or anything.

Had she dreamed up the past? Enzo's past?

Suddenly, something grabbed her, and she whirled around. Enzo was already lost in the crowd, but there was someone else in front of her now, someone she had definitely also seen before. Someone who was also dead and only came to her in dreams anymore...

"Bonnie. I'm so sorry…"

"Grams?" Utter confusion filled her as she saw her grandmother's anguished face. "This Dream is getting weirder and—"

"Oh sweet child. I wish this was a dream."

"What?!"

"I made a horrible mistake, baby girl. I was trying to protect you from your fate. But I believe I made it all worse, and when I tried to fix my mistake, when I tried reversing time for you, you somehow became untethered."

"Untethered. From time?" Bonnie's forehead was beginning to hurt from the strain of her frown, but she was so incredibly bewildered that she couldn't control it.

"From everything."

Was this not a dream? Or was she maybe dreaming up this version of Grams with her foreboding words, too? How much weirder could it get?

"It's powerful magic, Bonnie. I learned it from a medicine woman, a shaman. - I should have known. It's against the natural order, I should have never dabbled in this kind of magic. She even warned me, but… I wanted you to be happy, my child, I wanted to fix what I had broken."

"Broken? What… what are you talking about, Grams?"

There was a sudden sensation of wind, Bonnie's hair flying in all directions, a force tugging at the light coat she was wearing, but when she looked at Grams, at anyone else, really, no one seemed to be assaulted by the same gusts of wind.

"I had to fix it, but I made it worse. We need to find a way to get you back to the present time, Bonnie! Try to remember who you are! Remember where you belong, and when."

"Of course I will."

"No, Bonnie." Grams' look was desperate, urgent. As the wind picked up more, Bonnie had to strain to try and understand what her grandmother was saying. "You were supposed to go back to right before Enzo died. You were supposed to get a chance to make it right, to prevent his death, because it was my fault. He wasn't supposed to die back then. Not yet. He and you… you had a life together."

Bonnie felt a cold creep up inside of her, balling her hands into fists she tried to comprehend. "What are you saying."

Grams looked so sad, so guilty. "I ruined that for you, because I couldn't stand for my own granddaughter to be turned into an abomination of nature. I saw the future, my child. A future in which you were turned into a vampire, and I was selfish. I couldn't stand the thought, and you had to pay for that."

Bonnie shook her head, not quite comprehending, or trying not to. She and Enzo, vampires together?

Her grandmother lightly touched her face, cupped her cheek, but Bonnie suddenly felt betrayed, deeply hurt, and shook her off.

The old woman smiled at her sadly. "I wanted to reverse it, you have to believe me. I wanted to make things right again, send you back to the moment where things went into a different direction than originally intended. But… something went wrong. You went too far."

"Too far where?"

"Too far _when_ , child. _When_. This is the year 1900, and you're in England."

Bonnie opened her mouth, but she couldn't think of a single thing to say. At least that explained why Enzo didn't know her, why he looked younger, why everything appeared to be straight out of a history book. She was over a century in the past. If this was true. Pinching herself again for good measure, she wasn't surprised when nothing happened. If anything, the wind had picked up a tiny bit more.

"How do I go back to my own time?"

"Oh, child, that's what I'm trying to figure out. But I'm afraid this is not the end of your journey. That wind… it'll bring you somewhere else, and I don't know yet where, or when."

Awesome, Bonnie thought drily, surprised she wasn't more livid. Maybe it was because she had a hard time believing this wasn't just a stupid (a really really stupid) dream.

"What do we do?"

"I'll try and find you. And I'm working on reversing the spell."

"Wait. If you reverse it, what will happen to Enzo. Will he still be…"

"Dead? Yes."

Determinedly, Bonnie raised her chin. "Then don't."

"Bonnie."

"Let me try and fix this first. Can't we wait until this… this time vortex or whatever it is brings me to 2018 so that I can keep Stefan from—"

"Bonnie. We don't know how many time jumps you'll have to endure before that happens! And I've since learned that with every jump, you'll lose some of your memory. By the time you make it to 2018, you might not remember who you are or who you were, what you're doing there, or in a best case scenario, you simply won't remember that to you it has all happened before. You'll just watch him die again."

"But I… I can't just…"

"I know, child. I'm so sorry. Let me try and figure this out. I'll come find you. In the meantime, don't forget who you are, and where and when you're from. Please, Bonnie. Be strong!"

The sad chuckle that escaped her was swallowed up by a gust of wind so strong that she felt herself toppling over, then flying, whirling, losing touch.

Until darkness encompassed her, cold, and then… nothing for a while.

Blissful nothing.


	2. 2094

…

 **Mystic Falls, 2094.**

...

She startled awake, a chill clinging to her and she hugged her arms around herself.

"It's time, BonBon. You know it, I do… Don't look at me like that."

She gaped. She couldn't help it. Before her, sitting in a reclining sofa chair, a blanket across his legs, sat Damon Salvatore, all gray hair and deep wrinkles, a smidgen of crow's feet around each eye. Eyes, cloudy with age, yet still bright.

It took her a moment to remember. Untethered from time, Bonnie Bennett was floating through the universe, as mind boggling as that thought alone was, she hadn't realized she'd be traveling to the future, too. See Damon like this, an old man.

Unbidden, tears welled in her eyes and she clutched his hands, making him cock his head and smirk.

"You're not leaving me, are you?" she muttered, sniffling as he shook his head lightly.

"You knew this day would come, Bon." His hand reached up to cup her cheek. "I've spent this last week without her, and I don't think I can do it much longer. She and I… we need to be together. I'll finally see her again. And I'll see my brother…"

She was sobbing. "Can you tell him I forgive him? Tell Elena I miss her."

He nodded. "They know." He didn't even really sound like his younger self anymore. He sounded… at peace.

"Tell Enzo I miss him and I'll be with him soon?"

He squinted at her, his grin widening. "Oh," he muttered. "This is time traveling you, isn't it?"

Eyes widening, she frowned at him. "You know?"

"Bonster, of course I know. And I know that you'll be fine. You'll be okay."

"How do you know?"

He sighed, his eyes clouding a bit more. He was close. On death's threshold.

"Because you're here now. In this 'future.' Where Enzo is still very much around. You, on the other hand, are literally quite dead." He patted her hand, chuckling at her stunned expression.

Grams' vision of the future… In which she was a vampire. She was so confused. How did Damon know about all this?

"You know. I've come to think of it all as 'Quantum Leap, the Bennett Sequel'. You've seen that show, right? You're Sam Beckett? Grams is Al?"

She scoffed. "And who are you?"

"I'm the addition that made this sequel come into its own. The cherry on top. The snark and banter to keep the sappy "Time travelers wife" undertones at bay."

"Right…" It was her turn to chuckle, and she rolled her eyes at the grin he showed her.

"You'll be okay, Bon. The thing you need to know, the thing that will save you is…" A sudden coughing fit kept him from continuing and worriedly, she leaned in to lightly pat his back.

"Don't do this, Damon. Don't die before giving me this piece of crucial information, like this is some stupid tv show after all, okay?"

His cough turned into more of a chuckle again, before he fell silent, taking a few deep if ragged breaths. "Wouldn't do that to my best friend."

"So? Crucial info? Big reveal?"

"Dear Sheila found out that you're tethered to… aw, speak of the devil. Enzo, my boy, Bonnie of the future is here again."

She followed the direction of his gaze, gasping as she saw Enzo standing in the door frame, smiling. Looking almost exactly as the last time she had seen him.

"Enzo," she breathed.

"Hello, love…"

As if reading her mind, Damon whispered conspiratorially, "You should know, the romantic idiot always insisted on wearing the same horribly outdated outfits. Just so you would feel at home, no matter at what times you jumped back into our lives…"

Her heart made a leap, and she returned Enzo's contagious smile before getting up to walk toward him. Arms reaching out for him, she cupped his face in both hands, looking up at him, her heart almost exploding, her tears brimming over, before she kissed him fiercely, feeling his hands against her neck, against her side. His touch felt so good. She didn't want to let go ever again.

He was really here.

"Is it true?" she eventually asked, slowly extricating herself a little bit to look at him again. "I'll make it out of this time debacle?"

He raised an eyebrow, exchanging a fleeting glimpse with Damon that she caught. That she didn't like.

"Enzo."

"It's complicated."

"How is it—"

She was cut off abruptly, a gust of wind ripping her away so quickly that she didn't have a chance to cling to him, to do anything. To get answers. No, she thought, no no no. This couldn't happen yet. She had just gotten him back. And Damon was on the verge of dying. She hadn't had a chance to catch up. Or say good bye.

She needed more time, more time with Enzo, with Damon. Time to figure this out.

Why didn't she get more time?

"Nooooooo!" she yelled against the wind, angry and frustrated, and starting to feel lost. Until she didn't feel anything anymore and the wind calmed again.

…


	3. 1916

_Thanks so much, guys! I really don't know where this is headed, but anything Bonenzo is better than nothing, right?_

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…

 **France, 1916.**

…

When you have no one you care about or who cares about you, when, you have no place to call home, no purpose, when, on top of all that, you're bloody immortal and a monster, so you don't even really have your bloody life anymore, then the best way to try and do good in the world, to do something is help others fight the good fight.

Right?

As shots flew above his head and the dirt and mud in the trench stuck to his worn shoes, Lorenzo St. John gritted his teeth against the feeling of pure terror at seeing all these men torn to shreds, at fighting his own damn urge to feed on them.

He had been a vampire for thirteen years, and it hadn't gotten any easier yet. But he figured that he'd probably have a lot of time to get used to it, seeing as he couldn't easily be killed.

Not for lack of trying. He had made himself a bit of a name, actually, "the crazy one" they called him. His comrades, poor fellows that feared him just as much as the enemy.

He always volunteered for the most dangerous missions, always ran straight for the bullets, and rumor had it that he had been torn to shreds on more than a couple occasions. Yet here he was, unscathed and just as sullen and dark as usual.

Rushing past the other soldiers, he peaked over the side of the trench, because he had heard a peculiar noise, like a whoosh of air perhaps, but rather unlike the sound a stray bullet or a bomb would make.

Not the Germans, then. He sighed. Tired, he briefly contemplated just walking out of the stinky darkness surrounding him and letting the enemy pierce him. At least the pain would remind him that he wasn't completely dead yet.

It would also be completely stupid. A few people that swore up and down they had seen him get blown up was one thing, his whole battalion witnessing his miraculous resurrection a complete other.

No. He'd have to endure the panic filled screams on both sides, the frightened faces of the way too young boys sharing these trenches with him. He'd have to do his best to protect them, do something decent.

Then he heard it again, this time louder. He felt it, too. A strong gush, ripping at his coat, the only semi-clean piece of clothing he still owned.

"You hear that?" A wide-eyed boy, probably no older than 17 gripped his shoulder harshly, and Enzo had to suppress the urge to shrug the poor kid off.

"Stay here," he told him, gruffly, then gently put the kid's hand down. Taking a deep breath, closing his eyes, he braced himself. "I'll take a look."

And out of the trench he climbed, barely registering the young soldier's worried pleas to stay.

It was so incredibly dark. Even with his enhanced senses, he had a hard time seeing much more than the light of the enemy's fire, here a silhouette, then there.

Then he saw her. She was a pretty face, huddled in a heap on the ground, too gorgeous for a place like this, with her strange clothes and dark curls. What was someone like her doing in the middle of a battlefield?

He rushed over to her quickly, turning her over slightly to check whether she was alive. Her eyes flickered, then opened, the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen.

"What on earth are you doing here, love?"

The frown she gave him told him that she had absolutely no idea either. Had one of the higher ranking officers brought her over from one of the local brothels? Hidden her here this long?

Doubtful. He strange clothes didn't look like anything he had ever seen those girls wear (and he had seen quite a few of them. A man had to have some kind of joy in his life…). Besides, hiding someone so beautiful, so exquisite from a bunch of half crazy, half feral men seemed impossible.

He would have smelled her, too…

"Let's get you up," he breathed, unsure what he was doing, what he should be doing. But he couldn't exactly leave her lying there, that much was for sure.

Gently, he tried to pat her down, inspecting her for any injuries, when her hand flew up to grab his wrist, and fire returned to her gaze.

"What are you doing?"

Rolling his eyes, he scoffed lightly. "Don't flatter yourself, gorgeous. Just making sure you're unharmed. After all you're lying sprawled out on a battlefield. Besides, I'm a gentleman, I don't generally take advantage of helpless women."

"I'm not helpless." Her scowl was kind of adorable. Also annoying. Shaking him off, she slowly sat up, blinking as the noise of the war around her seemed to filter in to her conscience more. A bullet zipped past them, dirt flying up as it landed a few feet from where they sat, and she suddenly shrank against him involuntarily, the sudden touch, her warmth, her smell intoxicating him. Gasping lightly, he forced himself to relax, to not let his vampire side come out to play, and it took him a moment before he was sure his veins wouldn't be scarring his face and it was safe to look at her.

"Did you say battlefield?" she asked, her tone somewhere between incredulous, annoyed, and panicked, and as she looked up at him, he could only nod.

He was sure the darkness changed her features somewhat, but even here, in this mess, he could see how stunning she was.

"Okay, this is gonna sound really weird," she told him, clearly unaware that she was still clutching his arm as she said it. Not that he minded.

"Not much fazes me anymore, love."

"Can you tell me when and where we are?"

"When?"

Nodding, she looked up at him, and briefly, he wondered whether she might have bumped her head.

"August 1916 - give or take a few weeks. France. The Somme. You know, where the war is currently being fought…" He raised an eyebrow, giving her a pointed stare, but she seemed surprisingly calm, as if she was mulling something over in her head.

"World War 1. I didn't know you fought in that one too."

"I beg your pardon?"

A loud boom, then a thunderstorm of machine gun fire announced that things were heating up again, and the girl shrank against him a little more, breathing accelerated, and the smell of fear more distinct now. So she wasn't as cool as she was trying to be.

"I'm sorry. Never mind. Okay. Okay… I need to get out of here. This is definitely not gonna be the place where I'll solve this ridiculous mess. Chances are higher I'll get shot to smithereens and then the whole freaking thing was completely for naught. Where are you when I need you, Grams, you promised you'd get on this. You'd be here for me."

She was muttering to herself, but he heard her anyways. His hearing was simply too good. That didn't mean he had any idea what the bloody hell she was talking about.

"We should get you to the medic. If we can make it back down into the trench that is."

Grinning at him, she shook her head. "I can't believe this," she said, suddenly reaching up to run a finger over his lips. "I know I'm here for you."

"What are you talking about? Who are you? Did someone send you?" Suspicion, a sense of fear began creeping up his spine suddenly, and it had nothing to do with the war around them. What if another vampire had sent her? Maybe the one who had turned him? What—

"Oh gosh. It's starting. I don't remember my name. I know yours. You're…" She gasped, clutching him again. "I don't remember! I thought this was going to go slower! It wasn't supposed to happen yet. I mean, I know I love you, you're the love of my life, why don't I remember your name?"

Following some random instinct, his arms flew around her, holding her, gently pressing her against his chest. "It's alright, love," he breathed, "I'm here. You'll be okay." Hoping he'd give her at least a bit of comfort. This poor damaged soul. What could have happened to her?

He wasn't ever going to find out, however, because right then, right when he placed a soft kiss on her feverish brow, the wind around them picked up, whirled them around, tugged at his clothes until he was certain they'd both be blown away, but then the wind pulled her out of his grasp and a bomb detonated right beside him and all he could think, all he could feel for a few hours or so was just an immense pain that took all his memories of that night away.

...


	4. 1886

_If it wasn't obvious, I'm really struggling with this story. It might not go anywhere._

 _However, I'm so desperate for some Bonenzo that I think I finally figured out a way to change around my "Pond of no Return" fic enough so that I don't have to turn it into a Delena fic first (something I tried and didn't love) before being able to post that so I can then post my sequel. Let me know whether there is even any interest..._

 _(There might just not be...)_

 _But first, one more attempt at getting back to this little story here._

* * *

…

 **England, 1886.**

…

By the time she went through the strange whirl of time once more, Bonnie Bennett thankfully began to remember her name again. What she couldn't recall, however, was how many rounds of this awful game she had already played. How many different moments in time had she hopped into?

And when would she completely forget who she was and what was happening…

At least she had one consolation. When the vortex spewed her out this time, it was thankfully not on a battlefield, but in the middle of a beautiful meadow, its sides threaded by a meandering line of trees. Bright light, green leaves and a warm, yet not very strong sunlight suggested that it was spring. Whenever she was, at least she had an inkling as to what season it was. That was something, right?

Slowly making her way, feeling the dew coat her pant legs as she went, but not minding the slight chill, she got to the trees, realizing that they were part of an alley. This place was gorgeous, like a hallmark card, only missing a cheesy uplifting reminder, a two-liner or so…

Life is short, enjoy each moment.

There is beauty in the simplest of things.

Bonnie shook her head, grinning to herself. She should try and come up with a way out of her dilemma instead of lame greeting card messages. It didn't seem like Grams was particularly great at fixing whatever she had done, so Bonnie needed to look out for herself, preferably before she had the next moment of memory loss. She shivered at the reminder. That feeling when she hadn't been able to recall her own name. Or his…

His name… Closing her eyes, she tried to focus, tried not to start crying when she couldn't remember his freaking name.

The tears were trailing down her cheeks before she had a chance to wipe at them, and then, to her horror, she heard someone call out.

"Ma'am, are you quite alright?"

An English accent. She guessed those would never leave her alone anymore. By the end of this she would know England as if she had actually been there. Scratch that. She _was_ here. Just… not on vacation. Not in her own time.

Turning, she saw a young boy, maybe somewhere between eight and ten, his clothes simple, but clean, and incredibly old-fashioned.

Wiping her eyes she tried to smile when all she wanted to do was roll her eyes. Why was this stupid spell sending her so far backwards that she always ended up deep, deep in the past.

At least she always found him there. Didn't she? Because this was him. She was certain. Saw it in his hazel eyes, strangely bright. That dark hair, those cheeks… He was such an adorable little boy, it was no wonder he had grown up into the man she knew (and whose stupid name she didn't remember!)

"I'm fine, yeah." Smile in place, she wiped her cheeks once more for good measure, then waited until he had walked up to her all the way.

"Are you lost? You don't look like you're from here…" His cheeks reddened a little. "I'm sorry, it's not my business—"

"No, it's okay. You're right. I'm not from here. And I'm most definitely lost. Believe it or not, I'm not even sure what year it is anymore." She tried to do the math in her head. "1884?"

The boy's face turned into a frown. "Are you making fun of me? I was just trying to help."

"No," Bonnie was quick to say, raising an arm appeasingly, apologetically. "I really don't know. Bumped my head a little there…"

He was still frowning, if a little less suspiciously, a little less defensively. "It's 1886."

"Oh." He was ten then. "Thank you." She smiled, extending a hand. "I'm Bonnie by the way. And what's your name?"

His lips were moving as he contemplated his answer, finally settling on a short, "Lorenzo."

Her face broke into a beam of relief. That was it! Lorenzo. Enzo… How could she have ever forgotten?

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I need to get on my way. I have to be at work soon."

"You work? You're ten, right?" She was ready to comment on the fact that he was way too young to be working when she remembered what he had once told her about growing up. Abandoned at four, he had probably been forced to work way earlier than this. Poor little guy… So, instead, she raised herself up and asked, "Mind if I walk with you for a bit?"

He shrugged in a typical young child fashion, and she had to laugh at the face he made.

"Okay. Thanks."

…

They walked in silence for a long time, the alley providing them with shade and shelter from the sun, and more than once, Bonnie asked herself whether she should try and make conversation, but then she didn't want to make him feel too self conscious, and besides, what was she supposed to say to this kid version of him. She didn't even know him at all.

But she was curious. Wasn't this a once in a lifetime chance to find out something about his past? He didn't like talking about it much. Most of it seemed to be too painful to deal with, but this moment right here, it was so peaceful, under the green canopies of the large trees, that she had hope not everything had been darkness in his youth, his human years.

"This is such a gorgeous alley," she mused, looking over to him and noticing how he shot her a sideways glance, then shrugged. "Nothing special to you, huh?"

"It's just the way to the farm."

"Oh? Does your family send you over to get milk and produce?"

Squinting at her as if he was trying to gauge what to tell this strange woman, he nodded his head.

"Not my family…"

Right. The workhouse. He was basically an orphan, a child abandoned by his parents, not unlike herself, although at least she had had her parents for a much longer time.

She nodded, not wanting to put him on the spot. "You have someone looking out for you, though?" she tried, unable to keep her worry out of her features.

He made a face, but didn't say anything. After all, she was a nosy stranger. He didn't yet know that this was the woman he would fall in love with over a century later.

She didn't get a chance to ask him much more, as right then, it was as if the air around her tore open a bit and Sheila Bennett tumbled out, looking a bit frazzled and haughty, giving poor little Enzo the fright of his life and Bonnie a decent startle, too.

"Grams," she called out, watching as Enzo's eyes widened almost comically before he took a step back, then balked before Bonnie had the chance to stop him. "Wait!" She tried, but he was speeding off so fast that she knew he must have been running a lot in his life already. (And what a peculiar thought that was.)

"Bonnie. I don't have much time. I've been looking for you for weeks!"

"Weeks?" Time didn't mean anything to her anymore. She had no idea how long she had been doing this. For all she knew, it could have been just a day, after all she was jumping back and forth so fast, always getting torn away so quickly that surely it couldn't ever last much longer than a few minutes? And now Grams said weeks had gone by. Were her friends looking for her?

"I'm working on this. I got Damon, Alaric and Caroline to help me, but… the magic was strong, Bonnie. I made such a big mistake. I do think I finally know how to get you out again, though. How to get you back."

"Wait, so…" Bonnie frowned, rubbing her brow where the creases began to give her a headache. "I'm not actually in my own time right now, correct?"

"Bonnie..."

"Because I jumped into the future - or _a_ future and Enzo was there and Damon, and… they both seemed to think I had basically jumped into myself."

"Enzo was there? Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I know, that's weird, right? That means whatever you did, you fixed it, right? He's not dying anymore?"

Sheila's expression made a sudden coldness creep up Bonnie's spine. "What is it, Grams? What are you not telling me?"

"That you saw a future with Enzo means that something has already changed, yes." Bonnie wanted to exhale with relief, but that breath got stuck halfway when she saw her grandmother's grave expression. "The problem is that I can't seem to get you back to our timeline. You're… I lost you, child. I'm trying to find you and bring you back—"

"I don't understand this. I mean, you're here now. It's… 1886, if that helps, and I'm ready to go back if Enzo is already there."

"No, Bonnie. He isn't."

"What? But I saw him in the future and—"

"He is not in _our_ present. I don't know what happened and what kind of future you saw, but it is not the one in our timeline. You are no longer attached to our _own_ timeline, Bonnie, to what we know as our universe."

Bonnie's frown only deepened as she shook her head in denial. "No. You're not telling me I'm a victim of the multiverse theory, are you? That me going through time created another line in which things are different? In which… I'm trapped now? What… what about everyone else? My friends? My home… can I come back from this? Am I stuck? I mean, are my only chances now either hopping from time to time indefinitely until I've lost my mind or ending up in a universe not my own?"

She felt an unbidden sob build deep in her throat, but she swallowed it down. She didn't even understand half of this, so she sure as hell wasn't going to start crying over it. Not yet.

Not yet.

"I won't stop working on it until you're home, Bonnie."

"You're my Al, aren't you? And I'm Sam Beckett and I'll never jump back home. Oh god…" She ran a hand over her eyes, closing them. Trying to think. This was so so crazy.

But somewhere out there, her friends were looking for her. And somewhere else Enzo was still alive…

"Bonnie. Listen to me. I will fix this." Grams grabbed both her granddaughter's hands, holding them determinedly. "I'm so sorry I put this on you."

"It's okay." Now the tears were coming after all…

"No, it's not. I was selfish and I regret it so so much. Please, Bonnie; hang in there. Alaric believes that we might be able to ask Kai for help. With his siphoning power—"

"No."

Grams raised her eyebrows at Bonnie's firm disagreement, but didn't say anything.

Bonnie couldn't let them get Malachai Parker back again. Not again. Not even for her own happiness, her life.

"Find another way. What about the twins?"

"It's a possibility…"

"Good. Then try it with them, but only if it won't harm them in any way."

Grams nodded. "How are you holding up, child? Do you still remember?"

"I forgot his name earlier…"

Her chin wobbled at the thought, at Grams' compassionate look.

"It's only going to get worse now, isn't it?"

"We'll hurry this up, baby girl. We'll get you out before you forget much else."

Bonnie nodded. She needed to believe it.

But she couldn't. The doubts were too strong. Already she could feel the wind pick up again, saw it tug at Grams before it got to her.

"Stay strong, Bonnie!" The old woman yelled against the building storm, but the words got torn out of her mouth, before she got swallowed up and whirled away, leaving Bonnie alone again, for just a second, just a second and then…

…

She was gone herself, feeling her head smack hard against the ground before the alley disappeared completely and sunlight and trees made room for darkness.


End file.
